All Things Fallen – All Things Fallen (Self-Released)

Wednesday, 8th May 2019 By Matt Coe

Rating: 8/10

Feeling the need to release more music to the public, Markus Sigfridsson (best known for his work in Darkwater, Harmony and 7Days) put together All Things Fallen – tackling guitars, bass, keyboards, vocals and programming while also adding lead vocalist Erik Tordsson (End of September) and session drummer Leo Margarit to round out the musician core. Starting the project in 2015, the self-titled debut contains six songs of melodic progressive metal that remain heavy and engaging as they twist and turn through the aural landscape.

Markus understands setting up the material with catchy refrains and dynamic turns that can give the listener a bit of a cleansing to set up the next progressive measures or time signature shifts. Check out the layers of keyboards against the semi-djent driving guitar crunch for “Mirages” – providing the perfect backdrop for Erik’s smooth mid-range and harmonizing nature during the chorus. Narrative passages against an exotic instrumental start allows “In the Divide” to create a mystique modern groove swing, the circular musical notation rising and falling for a diverse, gothic tinge to the otherwise melodic hard rock/metal proceedings – Maria Grig adding a violin guest touch during the end that brings back 70’s Kansas memories. The choice of 8-bit like 80’s keyboards pushes All Things Fallen into experimental mode at certain points, while not forsaking the progressive metal foundation, even in more of a doomy slant for personal favorite “Ex Nihilo”. The guitar playing and lead breaks possess the right amount of shred and tasteful enhancement for each individual song’s sake – and he knows how to let a part just groove, ride, and build in atmosphere as you’ll hear adequately during the nine-minute plus closer “Introspection”.

And for those readers and listeners who complain about progressive metal albums always going on for over an hour, well – All Things Fallen clocks in at a very reasonable 39 minutes and change. Quality over quantity wins in the end. Chance are if you can’t get enough of Markus’ previous work with Darkwater and Harmony, All Things Fallen will be another alluring, satisfying record to add to your collection.